


Silencing the Alarms

by chromyrose



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, HSWC Bonus Round, M/M, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 01:26:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1921449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chromyrose/pseuds/chromyrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an AU where group marriages are the norm, Dirk is the newest spouse in the Alpha kids' marriage and having trouble settling in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silencing the Alarms

**Author's Note:**

> for the 2014 HSWC Bonus Round 3

“Movie night! Movie night! Movie night!” 

Dirk had been the garage, in the space Jane, Jake, and Roxy had gracious set aside for his work after he moved into their home, when suddenly the latter two had kicked the door in and were walking in circles around his work table, chanting. He lifted his goggles and looked at them quizzically, wordlessly, when their chanting got to a volume where he could no longer ignore it. 

“Come on, Dirkie, it's movie night!” Roxy chirped happily, once she realized she had his attention. “Family tradition!” 

She started tugging on his arm. Jake stood closer to the door, a few steps away, laughing. “We thought you knew about this, old chap,” he said with a grin. “Considering all those couch snuggling movie dates?” 

It was true that during their dating period, Dirk had probably seen more movies than he had in any other year of his life, but he figured that was just a date-thing. A for-lack-of-anything-better-to-do thing. 

As he was coming to realize, that was apparently not the case. So he pulled his arm out of Roxy's grasp in order to take off his work apron; he was just going to have to finish this tomorrow. It was too hard for him to say no to Roxy or Jake, and especially not so soon in the relationship. 

When they got to the family room, Jake collasped in a heap on his favorite and very worn green beanbag chair. Roxy giggled and sat in his lap, and Dirk opted to sit down on the loveseat. 

“Come on, Janey, movie times!” Roxy hollered, and Jane came in a minute later with two big bowls. The first she passed to Roxy, who'd been reaching out for it; it was popcorn, which Dirk noticed was dusted with some sort of powder. 

“Ranch popcorn,” Jane explained, sitting beside him with the other bowl. “This one is just plain butter, so you can take your pick.” She smiled, putting a little of the buttered popcorn in her mouth and speaking around it, “Did you guys pick a movie yet?” 

“Jakey wants to see his blue ladies,” Roxy teased, nuzzling her nose against his. Jane laughed, and Jake's cheeks turned pink. The familiar feeling of not belonging stirred in Dirk's gut as he echoed, “Blue ladies?” 

“Jake's got a bit of a... fetish, for blue-skinned girls. His favorite are the Na'vi in _Avatar_ , so it's become our nickname for that film.” Jane explained patiently. 

“It is _not_ a fetish,” Jake insisted, but his cheeks were even more flushed than before. 

“Gee, why didn't anybody tell me? I would have invested in some body paint.” Dirk wondered aloud, and though he meant it jokingly he worried perhaps it came off a little bitter. None of the others seemed to notice, as Jake was fumbling with the Blurays, and Roxy was rubbing her butt and getting comfortable on the floor. Dirk took some of Jane's popcorn and tried to put it out of his mind. 

–

According to Roxy, Jane and Jake had met at a family reunion when they were eleven. It was confusing and awkward for them at first, thinking they were related and still feeling attraction to one another despite that, until it was explained to them that actually, they were only second cousins by adoption, and had no technical biological link between them. Still, Roxy said, it wasn't until she met Jane in high school and convinced her that Jake was worth pursuing that the two had gotten over themselves and gotten together. Roxy herself was then surprised when the couple turned to her and asked if she would be their third partner. 

Dirk entered the picture years later; he met Roxy through a job, where he was the robotics engineer and she the programmer. After their first day, she came up to him and asked if he wanted to go out for drinks. He eyed the two thin wedding bands on her ring finger a bit warily, but she managed to convince him. And she did so every day for three weeks, the duration of their working together. Whenever he brought up the rings, she waved him off, until the last Friday when she finally answered,

“It's weird because I love Jake and Janey so much, but sometimes I feel like something is... missing. I love them but there's still something else I want...” she shrugged. “It's a little selfish, but I saw you, and my kokoro totally doki-doki'd, so here we are.” 

And then, somehow, Roxy talked Dirk into joining her and her spouses for dinner that same evening; even looking back, he honestly couldn't remember how she'd gotten him to agree. Just the notion that someone so genuine and open had come to him with romantic intentions, someone who was already in an established relationship and not just looking for some side fun, had him so jarred he probably would have agreed to anything. 

The few months after that were a whirlwind of dates, in pairs and groups. It took Dirk a while to believe this wasn't all a very involved dream, or force-fed hallucination. Though it was Roxy who introduced Dirk to their little trio, it was Jake who first really got Dirk's attention. Dirk had known all his life that he was attracted to males moreso than females, and Jake was exactly his time; short, rugged, and a complete dork. Roxy was flirtatious, forward, and charming. And Jane, who Dirk had probably had the most reservations about, proved herself to be incredibly bright, friendly, and yet thoughtful and reserved. Slowly he felt at home with them all; physical, romantic, platonic, the attraction was not really quantifiable to him. But he felt safe, cared for, loved, even. So when they proposed to him one summer evening after they had all met, he went with his gut and agreed. 

And now the credits on _Avatar_ were rolling, and Dirk was sitting on their worn loveseat next to Jane, feeling entirely alien to the situation. He got up suddenly, which made Jane still from her movie haze. 

“Everything okay?” She asked him. 

“Yeah. Bathroom,” he answered tersely, by way of explanation. And then he fled to the bathroom for a moment alone. It felt a little cowardly, sure, but he just needed to clear his mind. He was splashing water on his face when there was a knock on the door. 

“Roxy suggested we all have a sleepover in the basement tonight, okay? We'll be waiting for you downstairs.” Jane's voice came in through the wood. Dirk nodded, then realized how redundant that gesture was.

“Yeah, sure,” he said. When he got downstairs, what he least expected to see was Jake, Roxy, and Jane, spawled out on mattress they'd lain out on the floor, looking up at the stairs. Waiting for him. 

“Come on, bro, we don't bite,” Jake called out to him with a broad grin, patting the spot beside him on the mattress. 

“What's all this, then?”

“Come on, Dirkie,” Roxy drawled, rolling her eyes. “Did you really think we didn't notice how much of a sad sack of sad you've been lately?” 

Dirk was speechless, and Jane sighed. “Come on, Dirk, stop being so distant.” 

So he went. He sat down next to Jake on the pile of mattresses, pillows, and sheets. And he was very promptly the bottom of a cuddle pile that pushed warmth into the veins in the tips of his fingers. They kissed him and held him, and as Dirk drifted off to sleep he realized that _this_ , this was why he married them.


End file.
